Construction on the HVAC system and the structural slab for the Town Hall renovation project will proceed while the Town remains in ongoing negotiations with the contractor on increased repair costs.
The Town Council at a special meeting April 7 directed Town Manager Tim Pellerin to sign changes to the contract that will authorize contractors to move forward. The update to the contract, called a construction change directive, is used to prevent construction delays while increased cost approvals are pending.
Town officials recently learned that the contractor, Charters Brothers Construction of Danville, N.H., had requested an additional $143,000 for HVAC modifications on the Town Hall.
The HVAC subcontractor, Palmer and Sicard of Exeter, N.H., has offered a $17,000 discount on that figure, and Charters Brothers has proposed a 50/50 split of the $126,000 balance between the contractor’s contingency and the town’s contingency funds, Councilor Sam Flinkstrom said at last week’s meeting. The numbers are “still in flux” while negotiations continue, he noted.
According to Assistant Town Manager Jennifer Janelle, last week’s meeting with Dovetail Consulting, the Town owner’s representative for the project, was canceled and rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, April 14.
The Town “has not seen the final numbers for this (discount) yet,” Janelle said in an email Monday, but it expects there will be “a much bigger discount” than $17,000.
If any of the HVAC overrun has to come out of the Town contingency fund, she noted, it will have to be approved by a vote of the Town Council.
Detailed cost estimates for repair of the first-floor slab are still being finalized. “Charters is working on this now,” said Janelle. “We hope to know more soon.”
Voters in 2024 originally authorized $7.35 million for renovation of the 100-year-old Town Hall. In December, voters approved the use of $750,000 from the town’s undesignated fund to cover increased material costs, including $143,000 for HVAC, as well as any other unexpected overruns that could arise.
During a public review of the project last month, Flinkstrom questioned whether the architectural drawings for the HVAC system “represented a fully functional system,” suggesting the architectural firm may have some responsibility for the increased cost.
He recommended on April 7 that Dovetail Consulting be asked to conduct a review of all architectural drawings to identify any other potential issues to avoid further delays.
Council Vice Chair Mallory Cook acknowledged that “there is some dispute about who carries that responsibility,” but that the change directives “allow us to move forward with the project while we iron out that accountability.”
Cook emphasized that the project remains bound by the budget approved by voters. “If it ever comes to the point where this project exceeds the amount that’s already been approved by taxpayers, that will be brought to taxpayers,” she said.
